ESCONDIDO: State may audit checkpoint program

Escondido's checkpoint program may soon be audited by the state to see whether drivers were overcharged when their vehicles were impounded.

Last month, state Sen. Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, sent a letter to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee requesting the audit. The committee is expected to meet Wednesday and vote on the request.

In her letter, Kehoe cited a report by the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties released earlier this year that raised questions about the fees the city charges drivers to retrieve their vehicles, and the fees that tow companies pay for contracts to haul and store vehicles seized by police.

Escondido conducted a self-audit earlier this year that concluded the fees were justified.

Kehoe wrote in her letter that the in-house report conducted by the city was not enough. A spokeswoman for the senator said Monday that Kehoe was unavailable for comment.

"Rather than assuaging doubts, the report generated more questions than answers regarding transparency and accountability. An independent audit is the only way to ensure transparency," Kehoe wrote in the letter dated July 16.

Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, the ACLU's senior policy analyst for criminal justice and drug policy, said the audit could help answer questions about the checkpoint program.

"I would hope Escondido would welcome the opportunity for an objective review of their policies, as the city manager said he would," Dooley-Sammuli said.

In April, Phillips said he would welcome an independent audit of the city's towing program fees, but "not at the expense of Escondido taxpayers."

The ACLU report said an investigation conducted by Los Angeles-based documentary filmmaker John Carlos Frey uncovered city documents that indicate the estimated costs of towing vehicles has skyrocketed since 2004. Anti-checkpoint advocates say they believe the city manipulated the numbers to justify the fees charged to drivers and towing companies.

For example, the report said the city used questionable accounting methods to justify the $450,000 a year it received in towing contracts from six companies, including increasing the amount of time required to process each vehicle that police impound.

The city also charges drivers a $180 impound processing fee before they can recover their vehicles. The impound fee generated $365,000 in fiscal year 2010-11.

Moreover, Escondido receives about $250,000 a year in grants from the state's Office of Traffic Safety to conduct sobriety checkpoints.

City officials said the $180 fee was reduced to $100 for vehicles impounded during grant-funded checkpoints.

In her letter, Kehoe asked: If state grants paid for expenses associated with the checkpoint, "why isn't the city's additional impound fee $0?"

Dooley-Sammuli said that if the committee approves it, the audit is likely to take four to six months.